Monthly Archives: October 2012

Imperial debate: light and heat on the RCUK open access policy

Posted on 11 October 2012 by Stephen

It is two weeks since the meeting organised by the Imperial College Science Communication Forum to discuss the new open access policy announced by Research Councils UK (RCUK) in the light of the Finch Report. Richard Van Norden of Nature chaired … Continue reading →

Posted in Open Access | Comments Off on Imperial debate: light and heat on the RCUK open access policy

In which numbers lie – except when they flatter us

Posted on 10 October 2012 by Jennifer Rohn

Bibliometrics have been making me cross recently. In the past month, I’ve stumbled across two instances where journal impact factors were being used in a grossly inappropriate way to assess the worth and quality of scientist colleagues. This exposure in … Continue reading →

Posted in Lablit, Scientific papers, The profession of science, Writing | Comments Off on In which numbers lie – except when they flatter us

Bowson

Posted on 10 October 2012 by Henry Gee

At this very moment, Crox Minor is on a school trip to the European Centre for Nuclear Research (CERN) where she’ll visit the Large Hadron Collider (A school trip! In my day we were lucky to get a day-trip to … Continue reading →

Comments Off on Bowson

Broadening Horizons

Posted on 9 October 2012 by Athene Donald

Beyond the straight and narrow of their disciplines, there is far more that should form part of what every PhD student is exposed to during their doctoral (and indeed post-doctoral) years. I was reminded of this fact when I attended … Continue reading →

Posted in education, energy efficiency, Interdisciplinary Science, Jevons Paradox, Winton programme for Sustainability | Comments Off on Broadening Horizons

A Song of the Hunger Compass: it’s book review time!

Posted on 9 October 2012 by Cath@VWXYNot?

(This got really long – sorry. You probably shouldn’t try to read all of it in one go). ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ It was all Bean Mom’s fault.

Posted in blog buddies, book review, embarrassing fan girl, family, movie review, rants, television | Comments Off on A Song of the Hunger Compass: it’s book review time!

Prizes Straight from the Pits of Hell

Posted on 8 October 2012 by Bob O'H

This should make predicting this year’s science Nobels easier. Last month, Republican congressman Paul Broun, who also happens to be a member of the US House of Representatives science committee, described evolution, the big bang theory and embryology as ‘lies … Continue reading →

Posted in Silliness | Comments Off on Prizes Straight from the Pits of Hell

Alternatory

Posted on 8 October 2012 by Henry Gee

<rant>Now, I’m a Tory voter, that is, a supporter of the Conservative Party, currently enjoying their annual conference. I’m a Tory because I believe in the markets, in individual freedoms, and that the state should interfere in peoples’ lives as … Continue reading →

Posted in Politicrox | Comments Off on Alternatory

“I’ll be the judge of that”

Posted on 7 October 2012 by Cath@VWXYNot?

I’ve noticed a recent increase in the number of emails I receive that say things like “this is a polite reminder” or “this is a gentle reminder”. While there’s never anything in the message to contradict the sender’s choice of … Continue reading →

Posted in communication, English language, grant wrangling | Comments Off on “I’ll be the judge of that”

Keeping up appearances: I’ve been boto(x)-shopped!

Posted on 6 October 2012 by Steve Caplan

It’s remarkable how hard it can be to keep up with the technology needed for success in science. It seems that almost weekly I am being forced to change software programs for manipulating DNA, proteins and so on. Part of … Continue reading →

Posted in aging, botox, Ethics, humor, Photoshop, pictures, postdoc, Research, science | Comments Off on Keeping up appearances: I’ve been boto(x)-shopped!

Authorship

Posted on 5 October 2012 by Frank Norman

From time to time I have to go into our store to hunt through old (pre-war) reprints of medical research articles and I am always struck by the prevalence of single authorship in articles of that period. Single authorship in … Continue reading →

Posted in Authorship | Comments Off on Authorship